Shingling the Turret

My husband, the puzzle enthusiast, is awesome at putting things together.  Since he did such an awesome job on my last house, I asked him if he'd pretty please do the shingles on the manor.  Being the awesome guy he is, he agreed to do it.

After I stained and painted each shingle (a good time to do some meditation) and an almost full day of work on hubby's part, this is what he has done so far.  I love that rosette!

the left side

see the rosette?

the back

He'll be working on the turret today and will likely get it finished.  Then it's on to the main roof!  I hope his bill isn't going to break the Pennethorne bank!

Friday Finds

Today's finds all come from Carol Clarke's Dollhouse Interiors.  I'd seen those beautiful Porter's chairs on the internet and wanted one so badly for the manor.  I thought such a beautiful chair would be out of my reach until I found Carol's website.  There I found the perfect Porter's chair for the manor!

The chair will be in the main floor hall with a side table and other paraphernalia once the house is move in ready.  But for now I'm playing . . .

What do you think of my choice for floor covering?  The darker copper color picks up the color in the ceiling and the colors coordinate with colors in the wallpaper.

I also purchased a lovely little working fire grate for the fireplace in the third floor study.  I can't wait to light the fire!

And lastly I purchased a ceiling medallion for the main floor hall.  I had wanted to put one in the dining room, but there is a beam running through the middle of the room.  Do I dare cut through it for the medallion?  Hmmm . . .  There isn't a hole for the chandelier wire, so I'll be drilling one, she says with trepidation.  Any advice you could offer in this regard would be appreciated!

Work on the manor has slowed a bit as I returned to my part time job at the library last night after having two weeks vacation.  I was able to get all the doors stained yesterday (well most of them, I forgot one that was lurking in it's opening.  I must have been playing!).  Today, I'll finish up staining that wayward door and the basement stairs.  I need to install foam board on those walls that are getting doors to allow for the 1/4 inch difference in width.  Luckily, foam board is easy to cut and glue!

Totally off Topic:  I have a peeping chicken!  She's a Silver Gray Dorking and is about 4 months old.  They're starting to get a little more brave making their way around the front of the house now.

Main Floor Staircase

I have to be honest . . . I just about chucked the main floor staircase out the window last night.  Thank goodness for the pictures and good 'ol common sense or I wouldn't have been able to get the thing together.  I might as well have been reading Chinese . . . maybe it's just me but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the instructions were trying to tell me.

As if that didn't rattle my nerves enough, my patience wore thin with the hold fast glue I bought  that well, doesn't hold fast!  It took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for the glue to dry enough that I could move on to the next step.  And even then when I tried to place the next string, the other pieces would fall apart.  Grrrr . . .  Anyway, I eventually got the staircase together, glued the two trim pieces together and went to bed.  One can only take so much!!

The next step is to place the staircase in the house.  A few things have to happen first.  1. The first floor hall and parlor and the second floor hall and bedroom need to be primed.  2.  The staircase needs to be stained.  This has me concerned because the staircase is made up of several different kinds of wood.  The stain will likely take differently on those different woods.  I've done some research but can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for.  Anyone have suggestions?  3.  The left first and second floor walls need to be wallpapered.  4.  Insert staircase here.

And did I mention that the treads are not wide enough to leave the 1/8 inch overhang on the riser?  Well, they aren't!  I contemplated cutting my own treads but thought to hell with it.  Since the staircase isn't seen from the front or back of the house, I placed the treads with the 1/8 inch overhang leaving an 1/8 inch space between the tread and the riser.  Not pretty.  I'm thinking of placing a carpet runner on the stairs that will hide the worst of it . . . or I could fill with putty.  Might have to flip a coin on that . . .

Anyway, after a frustrating night I have to say that all in all the staircase looks pretty awesome and I can't wait to get it installed in the house.

Totally Unrelated Topic - have I mentioned that I live in a high traffic area?